Juan Martin del Potro's farewell in Buenos Aires was a show full of emotions. Novak Djokovic moved the Argentine public with his words -and his excellent level of Spanish-, giving center stage to Delpo with total humility and showing great chemistry with the public present at Parque Roca. After the match, the winner of 24 Grand Slams was full of praise for the former world number 3.
"Today we are all celebrating and enjoying Delpo's career. His serve has been good, serve, forehand, everything. After two years of not playing a match, having a lot of problems with injuries, but today he is grinding me with serve and forehand, I don't have the solution," Djokovic stated after losing the first set to the Argentine.
After the match, the Serb again took the microphone to say a few words and pay tribute to his good friend:
"In this stadium we are all very excited, I am grateful to be able to play with my friend, great person, great player, great rival as well."
"It's a very very special day for me too, it's been many years since the first time we met, I think it was in France, we were 12 years old. He was about 12 years old and he was already two meters tall, I was one meter tall," Nole laughed.
"Tonight is sad for the sports world and the tennis world. But I also feel a lot of happiness because we are here to celebrate his career, everything he has achieved all these years."
"I don't know a single person who doesn't love Juan Martin. Everyone loves him very much. I come from a culture in my country where the values are those, it is important to always have that: his behavior, his professionalism, his respect. I think Juan Martin is an example for all of us, the biggest victory in his life is that, he is a wonderful person," concluded the former world No. 1 in his emotional greeting to the player from Tandil.
Juan Martin del Potro and Novak Djokovic are both in tears as Juan wins his farewell match.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) December 1, 2024
They share a beautiful hug at the net.
Delpo crying as Novak embraces him.
What a moment between legends.
Ultimate respect. 🥹
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